Quito, Ecuador – The harrowing results of one of the first judicial inspections of the areas contaminated by ChevronTexaco in Ecuador were announced today at a press conference at the Hotel Quito by scientist Edison Camino, one of the experts appointed by the Superior Court of Nueva Loja, Ecuador, where the “Trial of the Century” against oil giant ChevronTexaco, is taking place.
Mr. Camino was accompanied by Luis Yanza, legal coordinator for the Amazon Defense Front, 3 people affected by the contamination, as well as lawyer, Steven Donziger. They announced the results of the inspection that took place on September 1, 2004 at Sacha Camp, well #53. The results were submitted to the Court in a report yesterday.
In addition, the report submitted to the court contains information from 1996 that was never disclosed to the public. In 1996, Texaco, now ChevronTexaco, claimed that well #53 at the Sacha Camp was remediated. According to these secret documents obtained by Petroecuador, Ecuador’s state-owned oil company, Texaco self-reported that this site was contaminated. The documents reveal that cancer-causing chemicals were found at the site. Now, 8 years later, the inspection has revealed that this site is still contaminated at a level that is not permitted by in Ecuador, nor internationally.
With this new evidence against ChevronTexaco’s “cleanup”, additional damage claims can be filed against the company, said Luis Yanza, a spokesman for the Amazon Defense Front, who represents a coalition of five indigenous groups and thousands of local residents.
The results of well #53 that were submitted as a report to the court, were determined by scientists appointed by the Superior Court of Nueva Loja, independent experts, and Texaco’s own reports from 1996, reveal the following:
• TPHs – substances such toulene, xilene, florine, and benzene which are directly linked to cancer and damage to the central nervous system – were found
• Levels of toxic contamination in the waste pits remained the same before and after the remediation. This supports the complaints of residents of the region and Ecuadorian environmental officials that ChevronTexaco only covered the pits with dirt and then planted vegetation to hide the toxic sludge.
• The formerly hidden Texaco documents also demonstrate that levels of Cadmium, a substance that causes cancer of the prostate and kidney disease, was found at levels 10 times higher than the those permitted by Ecuadorian standards.
• Levels of Cromium 6, another cancer-causing substance, that was used by Texaco to drill its wells, was found via independent testing at levels 8 times permitted in Ecuador. Because of its toxicity, Cromium 6 is also not permitted at any level in the U.S.
Although the scientific results of the first inspection are of only one site, it is likely that future reports will reveal similar information, of contaminated sites because ChevronTexaco admits that it used the same method remediate all of the sites. If this is so, the claims that the people affected by ChevronTexaco in the “Trial of the Century” have been making for years will be true. Formal reports for the other inspected sites are expected to be released in the coming weeks.
For more information go to www.amazonwatch.org or www.amazoniavive.org
